


deck the halls.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: dreams of another reality. [3]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Decorations, Conversations, December writing challenge, Established Relationship, Friendship, Inspired by Music, M/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Relationship(s), Short One Shot, Tumblr Prompt, Whiskey & Scotch, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28044234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: High school graduation had been a big thing for John, Bobby, Jubilee, Kitty, Piotr, and Rogue.  There had been times in their lives when they thought that they’d never reach that point, and so the fact that they’d all accomplished it, and accomplished it together, meant a lot to them.But after high school came university.  John had not been particularly looking forward to that, but the six of them made a pact to go through university together in the same way they had gone through high school.  So they all ended up students at St. John’s University at Charles and Erik’s recommendations.  Charles had bought an entire floor of apartments in a brand new apartment building near the campus.  He planned on using it as a place for students to live once they moved on to university, and the six of them would be the first students to use it.They were the only students who were going to live there for now.or:  It's the group's first holiday season as college students and it's time to decorate where they live.
Relationships: John Allerdyce & Bobby Drake & Jubilation Lee & Kitty Pryde & Piotr Rasputin & Rogue (X-Men), John Allerdyce/Bobby Drake
Series: dreams of another reality. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567585
Kudos: 5
Collections: December Writing Challenge - 2020





	deck the halls.

**Author's Note:**

> December writing challenge day 12. Posted a little late...but it's being posted. 
> 
> Dreams of Another Reality story! One of these days I'll get all this written. Things you need to know: they're freshmen in college. Things might make more sense if you read The Holiday Season first.
> 
> and as always, if you like what you read and you want to see more, please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. enjoy!
> 
> December 12 Prompt - “So you just decorated without me?” (imaginesandsmut on Tumblr)  
> Title Song: Deck The Halls

**December 2004**

High school graduation had been a big thing for John, Bobby, Jubilee, Kitty, Piotr, and Rogue. There had been times in their lives when they thought that they’d never reach that point, and so the fact that they’d all accomplished it, and accomplished it together, meant a lot to them. 

But after high school came university. John had not been particularly looking forward to that, but the six of them made a pact to go through university together in the same way they had gone through high school. So they all ended up students at St. John’s University at Charles and Erik’s recommendations. Charles had bought an entire floor of apartments in a brand new apartment building near the campus. He planned on using it as a place for students to live once they moved on to university, and the six of them would be the first students to use it. 

They were the only students who were going to live there for now.

Living together on the floor was great, really. They each had their own apartment, though John and Bobby shared one because they had been together for the past two years. They had a big dinner all together once a week, shared take out on pretty much every other week, and they even managed to keep up with their laundry, for the most part. John thought it was a pretty successful arrangement.

As Christmas and Hanukkah approached, it was decided that they would decorate the entire floor to make it feel like they were at the mansion. Kitty was going to spend Hanukkah with her parents in Illinois, but everyone else was going to be spending Christmas at their apartments, so they wanted to go all out. They all decided on a budget to spend on the decorations and then they all went shopping on a Sunday night. When they got back to their floor, they were too exhausted after hauling everything up to it to actually decorate, so it was decided that they’d do it some night that week.

And then their professors swamped them with homework because the semester was almost over. 

It was decided that Friday was when they would decorate. Bobby and Jubilee were the only ones who had classes on Fridays, and when they met up to head back to their floor, Jubilee was practically vibrating with excitement. “I cannot wait to decorate,” she said as they got into Bobby’s car. “I love Christmas decorations so much.”

“I know, Jubes,” Bobby said. “You’ve only been talking about this since we decided to decorate the floor.”

“Things are going to look so good,” Jubilee said, grinning. “Just you wait.”

They headed back to the floor, and when the elevator opened, Jubilee’s excitement immediately turned into disappointment. “So you just decorated without me?” 

“Hey, guys,” Kitty said from where she was adjusting some garland. “And Jubes, calm down. We’ve barely started. We haven’t even gotten to the tree.” 

Jubilee looked around and realized that Kitty was right, and she brightened back up. “Perfect then. Let’s get to work.”

“I have way too much homework to be able to help,” Bobby said quickly. “You guys have fun.”

John watched as Bobby hurried into their apartment, and he knew instinctively that Bobby was lying. “You guys keep going,” he said. “I’m going to go talk to Bobby for a minute.”

“Alright, darlin’,” Rogue said, and John walked into the apartment.

“Baby?” he said when he didn’t see Bobby anywhere. “Where are you?”

“Go decorate, Johnny!” Bobby called back, and John realized that he was in their bedroom.

He headed into the bedroom and found Bobby sitting on their bed, knees tucked to his chest and tears staining his cheeks. “Baby, what’s wrong?” John asked, climbing onto the bed next to him. 

“Nothing,” Bobby mumbled, wiping away his tears. “Just go decorate with everyone, okay?”

“No, that is not okay,” John said, pulling Bobby into his arms. “Tell me what’s wrong, please.”

Bobby was silent for several minutes, but he eventually settled his head on John’s shoulder. “I can handle the decorations at the mansion, you know? They’re very different from the ones that I grew up with. But these ones that we bought are a little too similar to what my parents’ house is probably decorated with at this very moment, and it’s just making me miss them terribly.”

John rested his head against Bobby’s and sighed. “I’m so sorry, baby. I know how much their rejection still hurts. But you’ve got to move on. And I hate to say that to you, but it’s just the truth. You’ve just got to move on.”

“I have moved on,” Bobby countered back. “But sometimes things just trigger memories and it makes me miss them. I’m not longing to be there or anything like that. Fuck them and their fucking bigoted ways. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t miss them.”

“Alright, maybe it doesn’t. But I still think you need to push past this.”

“I will. I just want to be alone for a while.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Johnny.”

“Being alone is the worst thing for you right now. What we need to do is make new memories for you to associate with decorations like these, and that starts with you helping us put them up.”

“I really just want to be alone.”

“And as I said, no.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Bobby sighed heavily. “Fine, let’s go decorate.”

John grinned and pulled Bobby off the bed. “I’m going to hate every second of this.”

“And yet you’re insistent that I do this,” Bobby pointed out. 

“Because you need this,” John replied. “I do not.”

“You’re going to enjoy it,” Bobby laughed. “And I know that you’ll never admit to the fact that you will. But you will.”

“Fuck off,” John said with a smile on his face. “You okay?”

Bobby took a deep breath. “We’ll see after all of this. Now let’s go.”

John pulled him into a deep kiss. “I love you. We all do. Just remember that.”

Bobby smiled softly. “I will. And I love you too.”

John took Bobby by the hand and they walked out of the apartment to find everyone was in Rogue’s apartment. They found them in the kitchen sharing cookies that Rogue had baked that morning, and Piotr was pouring everyone some whiskey. “Perfect timing!” he exclaimed, handing over glasses to John and Bobby. “Let’s have some drinks before we decorate.”

“Sounds good,” Bobby said, knocking back his glass. “What kind of cookies are these, Rogue?”

“Sugar cookies with homemade icin’,” Rogue replied. “I still remember my grandma’s recipe so I thought I’d make some for us.”

John snatched a cookie and took a bite. “Fuck, these are amazing.”

“Well, thank ya, darlin’,” Rogue replied, and that kicked off a discussion about what else they were going to do for the holidays. 

When they were all sufficiently tipsy and on a sugar high, they began to decorate. By the time they were done, the floor looked like Santa’s workshop had exploded inside of it except for the corner by Kitty’s room that was filled with a giant menorah and other Hanukkah decorations. They all agreed that it looked amazing and that it was going to be a good holiday season.

And then Jubilee spoke, and in John’s opinion, ruined everything.

“You know, The Definitive List of Mutant Holiday Traditions™ could totally work in an apartment building with a little bit of amending.”

John groaned loudly. “I hate that fucking list.”

“Johnny?”

“What?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

John sighed. “Fine.”

He was going to hate this. He just knew it.


End file.
